1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to near-field communication systems and, more specifically, to the configuration of near-field communication devices for P2P (peer to peer) transmissions.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
More and more portable devices (smartphones, touch pads, etc.) are equipped with near-field communication devices (NFC).
Most often, such portable devices are capable of operating in two modes, respectively called card mode and reader mode. In card mode, the device operates as a contactless chip card to communicate with a near-field communication terminal (for example, another mobile device operating in reader mode). In reader mode, the device operates as a terminal and is capable of reading contactless cards (or another device operating in card mode), just as an electromagnetic transponder reader.
Electromagnetic transponder systems used in near-field communications are now well known. Their operation is based on the emission of a radio frequency radiation by the terminal or the reader to communicate with, and possibly to remotely supply, a transponder present in the field of the terminal. The transponder, when it is within the terminal range, captures this field and communicates by modulating the load that it forms on this field. A transponder is within the range when it is capable of exploiting the field, and possibly of extracting from this field a power sufficient for the operation of the circuits comprised therein. The terminal and the transponder are generally tuned to a same frequency.
When the device operates in reader mode, it most often has to remotely supply the transponder located within its range and with which it desires to communicate. Now, there exist different natures of transponders, from the simple passive electronic tag to more advanced transponders equipped with microprocessors. A transmission between a reader and a transponder thus generally begins with a search for the type of communication to be established between the two devices, that is, the communication standard to be respected.
The availability of devices capable of communicating in near field provides another possibility of communication, the peer-to-peer file exchange. Such a communication is performed according to an ISO-18092 (or ECMA 340; or NFC-Forum Digital Protocol) standard and is generally called F-type modulation. However, present processes for configuring an NFC device according to the type of modulation according to which it is to communicate may not be capable of detecting a need for a peer-to-peer communication.